Monaco to build into the sea to create more space

Prince Albert II of Monaco is planning to reclaim land from the sea with a ground-breaking scheme that will allow the tiny population to expand.

Monaco is planning to reclaim land from the seaPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Henry Samuel in Paris

8:00AM GMT 28 Dec 2009

He has launched a drive to build into the Mediterranean to create an area around 12.5 acres – roughly the size of five football pitches.

It will extend from the Fontvieille district at the western foot of the "rock", where Monaco's palace and historic centre are situated.

The £10 billion plan was first floated last year but dropped due to the financial crisis and the "green" Prince's concerns it would damage the marine environment.

But the prince has now decided the time is right to try again and is planning a smaller development that will include a mixture of luxury property, offices and industry and public buildings.

Monaco is the world's most densely populated country, with a current population of just over 32,000. Only a fifth of these are native Monegasques and a select few newcomers are taken on each year.

The land reclamation will be made fiendishly complex by the eco-conscious Prince, as he has insisted the entire extension should be built on stilts like an oil rig in order not to disrupt the marine life beneath.

The "green" monarch, who drives an electric car and travelled to the North Pole to measure the effects of global warming, said he wanted the vast project to be an eco-showcase that would set an example to the world.

Gilles Tonelli, Monaco's governmental adviser on equipment, the environment and urban planning, said the country was running out of space.

"Fontvieille contributed hugely to the economic prosperity of Monaco over the past 20 years," he said.

"The presiding logic is that we need an extra 300,000 squared meters floor space per decade. We have made very precise calculations on the ground we still have left, space we can make via urban restructuring, and the answer is we're alright until 2020. But after that we'll have a big deficit."

Whereas the earlier project was to be privately funded by consortia, this time the Monegasque state will handle the financing to minimise risk.

Mr Tonelli said Fontvieille said the project could be completed in several phases.

The Prince has asked three groups of international environmental experts to study sedimentology and currentology, marine biodiversity and creating "false reefs" to support a wealth of marine life. They will hand in their conclusions in the next few months.

Major names from the world of architecture will then be asked to come up with new designs, with construction not expected to start before 2015.

In an interview in Le Parisien, Prince Albert said the new project must be a "model of sustainability". He has pledged to reduce Monaco's green gas emissions by 30 per cent before 2020, and by 80 per cent for 2050.